POC eyes other government agencies to fund Asiad

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Olympic Committee is not only looking at the private sector but the other government agencies as well to help give the national athletes all the support they need.

“Our needs and the athletes’ needs are always greater than what we get from the Philippine Sports Commission,” said POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr., now looking for more channels to seek help from.

One of them, he said, is the private sector, which has always been there to provide help for the hundred athletes under the national pool.

But Cojuangco said they need more support now as the POC and the PSC plans to reinstate the close to 300 athletes, or at least most of them, who were scratched from the pool and stripped of their allowances since January this year.

“Maybe we can approach President Aquino and the other government agencies,” said Cojuangco, looking at the possibility that athletes who can no longer be supported by the PSC can land jobs with the other government agencies.

“Maybe these athletes can work in some government agencies as casual employees. And who knows. If they perform well, at the end of their athletic careers they can remain there and be employed for good,” the POC chief said.

Cojuangco said he’d like to address this issue as soon as possible, and probably take it up with President Aquino, his nephew, the next time they meet.

“When I get the chance to talk to President I will ask him if some other agencies can accommodate our athletes,” said Cojuangco, adding that the P8,000 to P15,000 monthly allowance is not enough for the athletes in the training pool to survive.

The elite athletes, 16 of them, may have no problem with their P20,000 monthly allowance, but those who get less really need more.

“We can’t ask our athletes to compete abroad representing the country and while they are away they are thinking if their families back home are well. Iniisip pa nila kung kumakain na ang pamilya nila,” said Cojuangco.

The past PSC administration said the athletes who were dropped from the pool no longer deserve financial support from the government because they have either stopped improving or maybe too old for international competitions.

The POC and the PSC, now under chairman Richie Garcia, believe that denying these athletes government support is not the answer.

“We owe a lot to these athletes. They are in their teens or early twenties. They are in the prime of their lives and yet they are dedicating them to sports. We need to give them more that what they are getting now,” he added.